Technical Field
This disclosure relates generally to electronic devices, and more particularly to portable electronic devices having proximity sensors.
Background Art
Proximity sensors detect the presence of nearby objects before those objects contact the device in which the proximity sensors are disposed. Illustrating by example, some proximity sensors emit an electromagnetic or electrostatic field. A receiver then receives reflections of the field from the nearby object. The proximity sensor detects changes in the received field to detect positional changes of nearby objects based upon changes to the electromagnetic or electrostatic field resulting from the object becoming proximately located with a sensor. Electronic devices employ such proximity sensors to manage audio and video device output.
While prior art proximity detectors are useful for determining when an object is close to an electronic device, prior art proximity detectors generally have difficulty determining where an object may be relative to the device. Additionally, prior art proximity sensors are unable to determine how many objects are near the device. It would be advantageous to have an improved proximity sensor and associated systems and devices.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure.